A classy horror flick, in spite of all its philosophising

IT'S been 38 years since that slimy, sharp-toothed extra-terrestrial burst so memorably from John Hurt's chest in Alien, a film that remains the gold standard in the sci-fi horror genre. It's a blood-splattered scene that belongs in the pantheon of famous movie moments and made a star of a nightmarish creature drawn from the imaginings of surrealist artist HR Giger.

Director Ridley Scott, now pushing 80, returns to the source in Alien: Covenant, a prequel to Alien (plus three other films that followed) and a sequel to Prometheus (2012), Scott's less-than-satisfactory Alien-origins tale. Audiences will still have high-minded existential issues …